Firefox surpasses IE6's browser share in October

[Matthew DeCarlo]

October 2009's browser stats are in, and while Microsoft's Internet Explorer still lead the pack, IE6 has finally been surpassed by Firefox. Internet Explorer continued its descent, losing 1.07% browser share (from 65.71% to 64.64%), Firefox's share grew .32%, from 23.75% to 24.07%, Safari's share rose .18% to 4.42%, and Chrome furthered its lead on Opera, with the former gaining .41% (from 3.17% to 3.58%) and the latter declining .02% (from 2.19% to 2.17%).

IE6 is still accounted for some 23.3% of total Internet Explorer usage -- more than any other version. IE7 claimed 18.16%, IE8 18.12% and IE8 compatibility mode had 2.42%. Firefox 3.5 has taken off, accounting for 13.9% of all Firefox use, version 3.0 was attributed with 8.79%, and Firefox 2.0 only held a 1.14% sliver. Safari 4.0 (3.52%) and Chrome 3.0 (3.14%) are almost entirely responsible for their individual shares.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/36831-firefox-surpasses-ie6s-browser-share-in-october.html

 

[red1776]

IE6? i fear my favorite browser (opera) may not be around much longer at this rate. this is some heavy duty linking here, but I think this explains why Vista got such a bad rap...and why folks wont let go of XP.

 

[Ju1iet]

I think IE6 is the fastest launching browser. It has a small footprint on the RAM. No tabs, it can't print a web page fully but people still use it. Maybe it's about old sites that were designed for IE6 and never updated then. Even Opera Mini 5 Beta has tabbed browsing.

 

[Kibaruk]

Indeed, might be old support for some sites that doesn't work with another explorers, such as governamental sites of some countries.

 

[jurrasstoil]

Nice to see that Firefox is still on the rise.
I've tried every popular browser for more than a week or two and FF (3.0.15) is by far the best imo.
I would really like to know why the IE is still so "popular" tho...

 

[klepto12]

its not that IE is that popular its that every pc that runs windows comes standard with IE already there and most people dont know any better.

 

[kimsland]

IE6 has finally been surpassed by Firefox.

That's probably because most Users already previously have IE installed plus Firefox
I have both installed, why uninstall Internet Explorer, just let it sit there. Then when you finally want to use it, run a Reset on it first

 

[guyfred26]

Because IE8 has to much compatibility issues on some companies and there are many vulnerabilities that a hacker can think of. Firefox is much better and google chrome.

 

[elroacho72]

I like IE 8 I couldn't imagine going back to 6! I find it hard to believe that most people don’t update IE. I think when the hype of the new Firefox release claims down IE will be back on top.

 

[freedomthinker]

Well , seems Firefox is doing nicely Even surpassed IE6 , quite the leap . But still all browsers have a long way to go to catch up with MS . But if Microsoft just stands there doing nothing there will be consequences .

 

[kimsland]

But if Microsoft just stands there doing nothing there will be consequences .

Huh They just released Windows 7, I'm pretty sure MS is going strong

 

[Wagan8r]

I'm surprised that IE6 was leading the market share. I guess people just don't like change. I wouldn't be able to stand not having tabs anymore!

 

[Flippa]

I can see Safari moving up next year. Their new version is quite nice, but ill stick to Chrome. Also think about how many companies that only allow there employees to use IE on work computers as well as sites that only support IE.

 

[Puiu]

Older copies of windows xp come with IE 6 and only a few people know how to upgrade it if they don't use the windows update (mostly those who don't use an legal copy of windows). Also there are those who just don't want to upgrade because they use another browser.
Only those who use IE8 upgraded their browser, the rest use the default one or just install another third party browser.

 

[Razerblade]

I can't believe IE6 is still around on a lot of machines! But most of those will be household users who do not know how to update their operating system/internet browser.

 

[limpangel]

As a web developer I was more than often frustrated with the lack of "cooperation" from IE6, not to mention the lack of w3c standards compliance (exept for Microsoft proprietary web standards). IE7 was an improvement, but very liitle. Sometimes more frustrating than IE6.
But IE8 is by far the best Microsoft browser. So far I only had to do minor adjustments between my Firefox view and IE8 view.

So, with the comming of Windows 7 (IE8 included) and its rapid adoption by bussineses and people as well (see https://www.techspot.com/news/36800-windows-7s-share-climbs-some-40-during-launch-week.html I think IE6 shares will decline a lot in the comming months.
Maybe its death won't be "slow and painfull" after all.(see https://www.techspot.com/news/35789-microsoft-dropping-ie6-support-not-an-option.html Who knows, only time will tell, but I hope is for the better.

 

[Puiu]

@limpangel altough IE8 is their best browser yet, it still needs a lot of work compared to it's competitors. Also IE6's share will decline but only by a small percentage. Win7 still needs a lot more time before it even climbs above the 10% mark. I'm hoping that by the time FF4.0 arrives IE6 will be under IE8 and IE7. Maybe FF 3.6 will help a bit until then. ^_^.

BTW i'm hoping Opera's share will grow more because it's turbo feature is really great especially with not so good WIFI connections.

 

[ET3D]

@razerblade, true that a lot of home users will be using whatever browser came with the system, and will never upgrade, but a lot of businesses also still use IE6 because they have old applications written for it. Businesses are always behind the curve when it comes to tech.

 

[JMMD]

I'm sad to see that people are still using IE 6 with the push MS has made to move to IE7 and IE8. Personally I've used Firefox for a few years now simply because of addons like NoScript and AdBlock.

 

[slh28]

The only reason the dinosaur that is IE6 isn't dead yet is because so many companies still use them for their systems and just can't be bothered or can't see a reason to upgrade. Me and most of the people I know just get used to IE6's crappiness at work.

 

[waterytowers]

It is good to see Firefox support going strong, since I believe it to be better than IE. IE will still have the greatest total share for a long time to come because Microsoft is the main browser supported within business. At least Microsoft have been addressing standards compliance in their most recent IE versions, the Microsoft way, by having a separate standards compliance mode, which was initially turned off. At least they now have a standards mode It is better than prior versions which only supported their own proprietary standards. The Internet was badly damaged due to the browser wars of the past where everyone wanted their own standard, rather than using a single standard. I still occasionally encounter sites that I can't browse because they Microsoft only sites, but they are much fewer.

 

[fref]

I'm still using IE6 at work, but not by choice! Apparently, we have applications that don't work with newer versions of IE. I don't think I'm using any of them, but still, we're not allowed to upgrade.

I've installed Firefox 3.5 alongside IE6 a few months ago, and I'm much happier for it.

 

[buttus]

This should be a warning flag to Microsoft in that the browser wars are very much active. If MS is not careful, Opera, Chrom and Firefox all are slowly eating their install base down bit by bit. And now in Europe to appease the EU there, MS has included install options for other web browsers. A sign of things to come me thinks.

 

[swilllx2p]

What I wonder is if say firefox was the default already installed web browser instead of IE. What would the market shares look like then? How many people would actually go out of there way to download,install and use IE. I'm willing to bet that IE would be around the market share of chrome and safari.

 

[zaidpirwani]

Well for me it is only Google Chrome (Dev Release) though it crashes now and then, but it has the best response times I have yet to see in a browser, though I still use Firefox when the need for its extensions arises and IE, I only use it to test if the web sites I design are looking okay in it and all my sites will prompt the user to switch to chrome or Firefox.

As for Safari and Opera, Safari is on my Mac and the only time I used Opera was to try its Unite(or was it called something else) service, it has a good server setup for the likes of me, who just want to show a client his site....

Chrome rules, and Firefox is the Ultimate King, until extensions for chrome surpass those of Firefox, or if Google finds a way to use Firefox extensions on chrome....oh that would be just too cool.. but I can dream, can't I..